Rectocele 104 in a roman 100 is a condition whereby the woman's rectum is prolapsed into the posterior wall of the woman's vagina. Rectocele is defined as bulging of the front wall of the rectum (rectovaginal wall) into the vagina. Rectocele is due to weakening of the pelvic support structures and thinning of the rectovaginal wall (the tissues separating the rectum from the vagina) and is primarily a result of childbirth, chronic constipation, and hysterectomy. The rectum ballooning into the vagina is often exacerbated during a bowel movement as shown in FIG. 1A. As a result, the woman may experience the sensation of pressure or protrusion within the vagina, and the occasional feeling that the rectum has not been completely emptied after a bowel movement. In more moderate cases, a woman may have difficulty passing stool because the attempt to evacuate pushes the stool into the rectocele instead of out through the anus.
In an attempt to aid with a bowel movement in cases of rectocele, a woman may insert her fingers into her vagina to manually press against the rectocele, which helps create a uniform pathway for stool to move out of the rectum. Because a rectocele may protrude to the right of left of the posterior wall of the vagina, by using the sense of touch in her fingers, a woman is able to reposition her fingers to the where the rectocele occurs. In other words, a woman is able to press against the rectocele with her fingers by taking advantage of bio-feedback in her fingers.
As shown in FIG. 1B, a cystocele 154 in a woman 100 is a condition whereby the woman's bladder prolapsed into the anterior wall of the women's vagina Cystocele 154 is defined as bulging of the back wall of the bladder (bladdervaginal wall) into the vagina. Cystocele is due to weakening of the pelvic support structures and thinning of the bladdervaginal wall (pubovesical fascia, the tissues separating the bladder from the vagina) and is primarily believed to be a result of childbirth. The bladder ballooning into the vagina causes discomfort and problems with emptying the bladder. The elastic tissues of the vagina may compensate for this tear for some time after the injury occurs. Because the hormone estrogen helps keep the elastic tissues around the vagina strong, a cystocele may not occur until menopause, when levels of estrogen decrease. There are no muscles around the vagina, except the bulbocavernosus muscles at the entrance to the vagina. The levator muscle passes around the vagina and the rectum and inserts into the levator plate, which can elevate rectum, the vagina and the bladder neck together. As a result, a bladder that has dropped from its normal position may cause two kinds of problems: unwanted urine leakage and incomplete emptying of the bladder. The pubocervical fascia provides back support to the mid urethra, allowing compression when abdominal pressure is increased. This prevents urine loss with sudden increases in pressure, as with coughs, sneezes, laughs, or moves in any way that puts pressure on the bladder. If this compression is lost by tissue tears, then stress incontinence results. If the base of the bladder herniates, then urine will sump down into the inside of the hernia, and bladder emptying will be impaired. The woman may experience the sensation of pressure or protrusion within the vagina, and the occasional feeling that the bladder has not been completely emptied after urination.
Though surgical procedures exist to repair rectoceles and cystoceles, in less severe cases, a number of optional devices currently exist to provide some rectocele and/or cystocele relief. One family of devices includes spoon-like devices, which are used just prior to a bowel movement to essentially when the bowel movement or urination is completed. Unlike the biofeedback of fingers to facilitate repositioning of pressure against the rectocele or the cystocele, spoon-like devices are unable to sense if a rectocele or cystocele is sliding to the right or left of the spoon. In one example, when a rectocele slides to the right or left of the spoon, the woman may press harder against her posterior rectovaginal wall with the spoon because she is not experiencing proper stool evacuation and cannot sense through bio-feedback that the rectocele has moved around the spoon, which then may cause damage to her posterior rectovaginal wall. The same problem applies to a cystocele.
Another family of devices used to address rectoceles includes pessaries, which are typically inflated balloons that provide static pressure on all surfaces of the vaginal canal (the rectovaginal wall, lateral walls and the bladdervaginal wall). Pessaries offer extended support to address rectoceles. Pessaries are not inserted into a vagina just prior to a bowel movement to the point of when a bowel movement is complete or prior to the point of urination or just when urination is complete. Rather, pessaries are left in the vagina for an extended period of time, sometimes being inserted in the morning and removed at night to being left in for days at a time, if not longer. Moreover, due to the static nature of pessaries, pessaries are unable to be manipulated to push prolapsing organs back into place once inserted in a vagina.
It is to innovations related to addressing passing a bowel movement in women suffering from a rectocele or urination in women suffering from a cystocele that the claimed invention is generally directed.